1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to securing of heat sinks to electronic packages, and particularly to a heat sink clip having a cammed handle for securely and readily retaining a heat sink to an electronic package.
2. Related Art
In order to reduce heat produced by high-powered computer Central Processing Units (CPUs) such as the Pentium IV produced by Intel(R) and the K8 produced by AMD(R), bigger and heavier heat sinks are becoming increasingly necessary. Strong resilient clips are often used to attach these heat sinks onto electronic packages.
An example of this kind of heat sink clip is disclosed in Taiwan patent publication No. 456586. The clip is usually integrally formed from a sheet of plastic or steel. The clip comprises a central pressing portion, and two resilient portions extending outwardly and upwardly from opposite sides of the pressing portion. Two locking portions depend from distal ends of the pressing portion, respectively. A locking hole is defined in each of the locking portions. The clip is relatively rigid, and an operator must exert considerable force to press the resilient portion, which is cumbersome and time-consuming. Furthermore, a tool must be used to detach the clip from a corresponding CPU socket. It is inconvenient to use a tool, especially within the limited confines of a typical computer case. This slows down the process of attachment and detachment of the heat sink to and from the CPU, and results in inefficiency in mass production facilities. Furthermore, the tool can easily skid off the clip during such attachment or detachment, causing damage to adjacent components in the computer system.
Thus, an improved heat sink clip which overcomes the above-mentioned problems is desired.